Captopril Therapy for Heart Failure

2009 Focused Update Incorporated Into the ACC/AHA 2005 Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Heart Failure in Adults

“…Analysis of this collective experience indicates that ACEIs can alleviate symptoms, improve clinical status, and enhance the overall sense of well-being of patients with HF. 145,[147][148][149][150][151][152][153][154][155][156][157] In addition, ACEIs can reduce the risk of death and the combined risk of death or hospitalization. [155][156][157] These benefits of ACE inhibition were seen in patients with mild, moderate, or severe symptoms and in patients with or without coronary artery disease.…”

ACC/AHA 2005 Guideline Update for the Diagnosis and Management of Chronic Heart Failure in the Adult

“…Analysis of this collective experience indicates that ACEIs can alleviate symptoms, improve clinical status, and enhance the overall sense of well-being of patients with HF (184)(185)(186)(187)(188)(189)(190)(191)(192)(193)(194)(195). In addition, ACEIs can reduce the risk of death and the combined risk of death or hospitalization (193)(194)(195).…”

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors - When to Use?

“…It has been relatively easy to demonstrate that ACE inhibitors are extremely useful drugs for reducing exercise-induced breath lessness and fatigue in patients with severe heart failure [2,4], It is always difficult accu rately to define what is meant by 'severe' failure, but in general this includes patients with grades 3 and 4 of the New York Heart Association's scale of severity -these pa tients are either breathless at rest or on minimal exertion. A simpler, but perhaps equally effective way of grading heart failure is to record the dose of diuretics that the patient has been found to need: a daily dose of frusemide greater than 80 mg indicates severe failure, and such patients un doubtedly benefit from the addition of an ACE inhibitor.…”